China's Tencent Extends NBA Digital Partnership
The China deal becomes the basketball league's biggest international digital partnership.
By Clifford Coonan
Clifford Coonan
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Chinese online giant Tencent has signed a deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to extend their partnership in China by five years and create the league's largest international digital partnership.
Under the deal, which takes effect from July 1, Tencent will become the exclusive official digital partner of the NBA in China and will feature a record number of live NBA games, as well as enhanced programming and highlights.
"The NBA represents both a widely-followed sport and an active healthy way of life in China," Martin Lau, president of Tencent said in a statement. "This multi-year agreement enables us to bring substantially more NBA games and content to consumers than has even been available in the past, and we look forward to working with the NBA league, teams and players to further enhance the sport's profile and popularity."
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The programming will include NBA preseason and regular-season games, NBA All-Star, the NBA Playoffs, The Finals, NBA Summer League and the NBA Draft.
"NBA fans in China are among the most passionate and knowledgeable basketball fans in the world, and we are thrilled to expand our partnership with Tencent," said NBA commissioner Adam Silver. "Tencent is one of the most innovative, leading brands in China, and their extensive reach will give our fans unparalleled access to the league and its teams."
Chinese fans can access the games through Tencent's NBA sections on Tencent's services, which include QQ, Weixin, Tencent Video app and Tencent News app.
NBA China CEO David Shoemaker said: "As the popularity of the NBA continues to soar in China, our fans will receive unprecedented NBA content, interactive gaming, customized communities, and merchandise on QQ.com, Weixin, Tencent Video and News apps, and other Tencent platforms throughout the year."